Metal band Skeletonwitch will continue its “Curse of the Dead” tour at the Atlantic, located at 15 N. Main St., alongside Oathbreaker, Iron Reagan and Gatecreeper on Sunday.
The diversity in lineup and style between each performing band promises for a unique show and ushers in Oathbreaker’s first time on an American stage.
Skeletonwitch’s Scott Hendrick first became interested in music as a kid when his “cool older brother” drove him to the record store and took him to his first concert, he said. This fostered Hendrick’s love of music, but it was not until he went to college that Hendrick got involved in making music himself.
Skeletonwitch emerged out of Athens, Ohio, in 2003 when guitarists Hendrick and Nate Garnette met at Ohio University.
“We both liked rock and roll and heavy metal much more than we liked our classes,” Hendrick said.
For a time, Garnette and Hendrick kept their music secondary to school, but around the time of Hendrick’s graduation, these priorities began to reverse. During the band’s first European tour, Hendrick recalls standing on a mountaintop in Bergen, Norway, and realizing making music was going to be his life.
“I looked around and thought, ‘I don’t want to give this up,’” Hendrick said.
Now, some 13 years later, the band is signed to Prosthetic Records and has five members: vocalist Adam Clemans, guitarists Garnette and Hendrick, bassist Evan Linger and drummer Dustin Boltjes. While Skeletonwitch has been described as a black-thrash metal band, Hendrick said he is hesitant to align the band to any particular sub-genre because the group is continuing to expand and grow its unique sound with every new release and performance.
Hendrick said the band’s uniqueness comes largely from the individuality of its members.
While the band as a whole is influenced by bands like Mercyful Fate and Iron Maiden, each member has his own personal influences, from Japanese psychedelic music to punk rock.
The band members have toured all over the U.S. and Europe and have no plans of slowing down. Hendrick said he would like to see Skeletonwitch perform in new places like South America and Japan in the future.
The show will open at 8 p.m., and the tickets may be purchased through showclix.com for $15 or at Arrow’s Aim Records and Hear Again Music.
